Today's a big day! The Church celebrates the conversion of Saint Paul. The feast is especially significant this year, since 2008/2009 is the year dedicated to Paul. He's so great that he should always remembered as a good example of Christianhood.
In so many ways, he's my faith hero because so much of what he's experienced, said and written, I relate to so well. So many times in my faith journey when I found it hard to serve with joy because it hurt so much to be kicked around, Paul showed the way to whole-hearted service.
He played a big role in the execution of Stephen, the first martyr (Acts 7:54-8:1), and made good pleasure out of putting Christians in prison (8:3). No one in the right mind would have imagined this young man to be an instrument of God. Well, no one, except God Himself.
Jesus appeared to Paul in a bright light while Paul was still "breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord" (9:1), and asked, "Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?" (v. 4, RSV-CE). After being stunned and blinded for three days, Saul received a word from a disciple of the Lord, and boom: he got up, and got baptised (v. 18). From the Christian-hater to Christ-lover, Paul was converted - just like that.
God would eventually show Paul "how much he must suffer for the sake of my name" (v. 16). Eventually, what went around, came around for Paul. The man who once beat up and persecuted Christians, got beaten up and gave up his own life for Christ.
The Lord chose Paul to be His instrument (v. 15) despite his terrible treatment toward the Church. Guess what? We're unlikely to be any worse than Paul; God can use you too.
Paul did not say yes; he simply and "immediately proclaimed Jesus ... the Son of God" (v. 20). Paul's answer to the call was plain, simple and immediate. Is ours? Wait - we don't have to say it.
We just need to act on it now.
Showing posts with label People in the Bible. Show all posts
Showing posts with label People in the Bible. Show all posts
Friday, 25 January 2008
Saturday, 7 July 2007
Jonah 1: When God gives a mission, don't give your own version
The book of Jonah, while short simple to follow, contains a wealth of lessons for us Christians. It highlights God's love, forgiveness and mercy on those who love Him... and on those who don't!
We find several characters in this story who will play important roles in the story. God, of course, is the main man, as with all other books in the Bible. He calls His prophet, Jonah, who decides not to do what God wants.
Jonah runs away from the mission (literally in the opposite direction), and even pays to get on a ship to go someplace far. There, he meets some sailors, who worship other gods.
When God sends a storm, Jonah confesses that his disobedience is the cause of the storm, and the sailors eventually throw him off to save the ship from disaster.
Jonah gets swallowed by a big fish, where he prays. After three days, God tells the fish to spit Jonah out. Jonah finally goes into Nineveh and preaches. It is surprising that the Ninevites and their king respond positively, and repent.
After Jonah leaves, he finds a spot to sit, where he could watch the city of Nineveh (he was waiting for God to do something to the Ninevites).
Out of nothing, God puts a plant to protect Jonah from the heavy heat, which makes Jonah very happy. Only a day later, though, a worm destroys the plant, and Jonah gets angry. The story ends abruptly after God explains His mercy to Jonah.
While there are arguments that the story is fiction not to be taken as factual, it is completely possible that these things happened. Jonah was a real person – and a real prophet who spoke on God’s behalf – who really did exist.
In the second book of Kings, Jonah gave God’s word to Jeroboam II, who listened, and “recovered the territories of Israel between Lebo-hamath and the Dead Sea, just as the Lord, the God of Israel, had promised…” (2 Kings 14:25).
Jonah must have also been quite a popular figure. In the New Testament, Jesus Himself compares Himself to the prophet (Mt 12:38-41).
What is it about Jonah that he deserves four chapters, one book, in the Bible? What can these four chapters, 47 verses in all, do for us, who live in today’s society? Maybe you, like I did, think you know the story, but a closer look will prove that this ocean is deeper than we thought.
God gives the mission, don’t give your own version
God gives Jonah a mission: to preach to the people of Nineveh (in Assyria). It was obviously not something out of Jonah’s prophetic calling. He was pretty good at his vocation. Why did he run away then? It was not because he didn’t love God. It was because he loved himself more than he loved God. He decided (and overruled God’s choice along the way) that the Ninevites did not deserve forgiveness. Assyria was the dominant power of those days, threatening to overpower Israel – it was pointless to forgive people who were rooted in evil and hungry for world dominance.
It was only natural that Jonah would have wanted them destroyed so that his own life may be spared. Furthermore, if the people of Israel had heard about Jonah going to preach and save the Ninevites, what would they have thought of him and what would they have done to him? Lastly, it is not logical the Ninevites would listen to an Israelite preach repentance. Oh yes, Jonah loved God. He just loved himself more.
Like many of us would today, Jonah had talent and was gifted, but he preferred to choose how he would serve God and who he would preach to. We also tend to forget that, some times – many times – God wants to use us to help our enemies! We also tend to walk away from trouble, from difficulty, from His mission.
Through his experience, he would experience several types of people who would reveal a little more to us, about discipleship and conversion.
The gods must be crazy
The first group of people he encountered while running away was an interesting bunch. These were sailors on the ship who worshipped “their own gods” (Jon 2:5). They obviously did not belong to the one true God of Israel. When the storm comes (thank you, Jonah), they start to offload their items into the waters and praying to their own gods.
They were probably praying to the god of the waters, and to the god of the sky, and the god of the winds! Wouldn’t this be such a slap in the face for these ‘gods’? They are ‘in-charge’ of the section, but they had absolutely no power over it. Are we guilty of worshipping other gods? Grades, money, friends make up a little of our happiness, but they have little power compared to God.
We know that Jonah was “fast asleep” (Jon 1:5), but was it because he was tired? It wasn’t logical at all! The waters were choppy; the ship was violently shaking to a “point of breaking up” (Jon 1:4). Anyone who could sleep though that, would be dead (in every sense of the word! He was trying to ignore the problems he had caused. He was still trying to “run away” from it. Are we asleep in our faith – do we sleep away during mass? Have we been caught not know why we do certain things in church? Is there someone we are being called to reach, but like Jonah, we’re refusing, for one excuse or another?
Here’s the thing about the sailors: when he finally confessed, Jonah suggested being thrown overboard so that the ship would stabilise. What did the sailors do? Many of us would see that they did. But read it carefully, and we’ll realise that they did not want to do it; they were extremely reluctant: “Still, the men rowed hard…” (Jon 1:13).
Killing a man was their last resort! We begin to appreciate this when we remember that these were not “God’s people”. Jonah, who was a prophet and close friend of God’s, couldn’t wait to kill the Ninevites (indirectly), for pathetic reasons, but here we had the sailors who had very good and valid reason to kill, but did not want to. Perhaps we are guilty of being less Christ-like than people who don’t even know Christ?
Jonah described God as “the [One] who made the sea and the dry land” (Jon 1:9). And when he chose to run, he ran to… the sea. The very place God created and had every power over. Aren’t we all guilty of lip-service sometimes? We proclaim Jesus as Lord of our lives, but we try to control everything in our lives.
Still, even when Jonah was in total disobedience, God used his life. When the storm died off, the sailors were “struck with great awe” (Jon 1:16). It is not definitive, but there are clues that point to the sailor’s acceptance and conversion.
They “offered sacrifice” and “made vows” (Jon 1:16) to God. Such is the power of the Lord we serve, that He is able to use someone useless and unwilling positively. How awesome is our God. Poor ‘gods’ of the sea, sky and wind. They sure lost some fans there.
- Updated 20 Jul 2007
We find several characters in this story who will play important roles in the story. God, of course, is the main man, as with all other books in the Bible. He calls His prophet, Jonah, who decides not to do what God wants.
Jonah runs away from the mission (literally in the opposite direction), and even pays to get on a ship to go someplace far. There, he meets some sailors, who worship other gods.
When God sends a storm, Jonah confesses that his disobedience is the cause of the storm, and the sailors eventually throw him off to save the ship from disaster.
Jonah gets swallowed by a big fish, where he prays. After three days, God tells the fish to spit Jonah out. Jonah finally goes into Nineveh and preaches. It is surprising that the Ninevites and their king respond positively, and repent.
After Jonah leaves, he finds a spot to sit, where he could watch the city of Nineveh (he was waiting for God to do something to the Ninevites).
Out of nothing, God puts a plant to protect Jonah from the heavy heat, which makes Jonah very happy. Only a day later, though, a worm destroys the plant, and Jonah gets angry. The story ends abruptly after God explains His mercy to Jonah.
While there are arguments that the story is fiction not to be taken as factual, it is completely possible that these things happened. Jonah was a real person – and a real prophet who spoke on God’s behalf – who really did exist.
In the second book of Kings, Jonah gave God’s word to Jeroboam II, who listened, and “recovered the territories of Israel between Lebo-hamath and the Dead Sea, just as the Lord, the God of Israel, had promised…” (2 Kings 14:25).
Jonah must have also been quite a popular figure. In the New Testament, Jesus Himself compares Himself to the prophet (Mt 12:38-41).
What is it about Jonah that he deserves four chapters, one book, in the Bible? What can these four chapters, 47 verses in all, do for us, who live in today’s society? Maybe you, like I did, think you know the story, but a closer look will prove that this ocean is deeper than we thought.
God gives the mission, don’t give your own version
God gives Jonah a mission: to preach to the people of Nineveh (in Assyria). It was obviously not something out of Jonah’s prophetic calling. He was pretty good at his vocation. Why did he run away then? It was not because he didn’t love God. It was because he loved himself more than he loved God. He decided (and overruled God’s choice along the way) that the Ninevites did not deserve forgiveness. Assyria was the dominant power of those days, threatening to overpower Israel – it was pointless to forgive people who were rooted in evil and hungry for world dominance.
It was only natural that Jonah would have wanted them destroyed so that his own life may be spared. Furthermore, if the people of Israel had heard about Jonah going to preach and save the Ninevites, what would they have thought of him and what would they have done to him? Lastly, it is not logical the Ninevites would listen to an Israelite preach repentance. Oh yes, Jonah loved God. He just loved himself more.
Like many of us would today, Jonah had talent and was gifted, but he preferred to choose how he would serve God and who he would preach to. We also tend to forget that, some times – many times – God wants to use us to help our enemies! We also tend to walk away from trouble, from difficulty, from His mission.
Through his experience, he would experience several types of people who would reveal a little more to us, about discipleship and conversion.
The gods must be crazy
The first group of people he encountered while running away was an interesting bunch. These were sailors on the ship who worshipped “their own gods” (Jon 2:5). They obviously did not belong to the one true God of Israel. When the storm comes (thank you, Jonah), they start to offload their items into the waters and praying to their own gods.
They were probably praying to the god of the waters, and to the god of the sky, and the god of the winds! Wouldn’t this be such a slap in the face for these ‘gods’? They are ‘in-charge’ of the section, but they had absolutely no power over it. Are we guilty of worshipping other gods? Grades, money, friends make up a little of our happiness, but they have little power compared to God.
We know that Jonah was “fast asleep” (Jon 1:5), but was it because he was tired? It wasn’t logical at all! The waters were choppy; the ship was violently shaking to a “point of breaking up” (Jon 1:4). Anyone who could sleep though that, would be dead (in every sense of the word! He was trying to ignore the problems he had caused. He was still trying to “run away” from it. Are we asleep in our faith – do we sleep away during mass? Have we been caught not know why we do certain things in church? Is there someone we are being called to reach, but like Jonah, we’re refusing, for one excuse or another?
Here’s the thing about the sailors: when he finally confessed, Jonah suggested being thrown overboard so that the ship would stabilise. What did the sailors do? Many of us would see that they did. But read it carefully, and we’ll realise that they did not want to do it; they were extremely reluctant: “Still, the men rowed hard…” (Jon 1:13).
Killing a man was their last resort! We begin to appreciate this when we remember that these were not “God’s people”. Jonah, who was a prophet and close friend of God’s, couldn’t wait to kill the Ninevites (indirectly), for pathetic reasons, but here we had the sailors who had very good and valid reason to kill, but did not want to. Perhaps we are guilty of being less Christ-like than people who don’t even know Christ?
Jonah described God as “the [One] who made the sea and the dry land” (Jon 1:9). And when he chose to run, he ran to… the sea. The very place God created and had every power over. Aren’t we all guilty of lip-service sometimes? We proclaim Jesus as Lord of our lives, but we try to control everything in our lives.
Still, even when Jonah was in total disobedience, God used his life. When the storm died off, the sailors were “struck with great awe” (Jon 1:16). It is not definitive, but there are clues that point to the sailor’s acceptance and conversion.
They “offered sacrifice” and “made vows” (Jon 1:16) to God. Such is the power of the Lord we serve, that He is able to use someone useless and unwilling positively. How awesome is our God. Poor ‘gods’ of the sea, sky and wind. They sure lost some fans there.
- Updated 20 Jul 2007
Saturday, 23 June 2007
For the man (focused) on a mission
This Sunday we celebrate the Solemnity of St. John The Baptist (JTB). Isaiah proclaims the mission of the man who would baptise Jesus:
"You are my servant, he said to me,
Israel, through whom I show my glory...
Though I thought I had toiled in vain,
and for nothing, uselessly, spent my strength,
yet my reward is with the LORD,
my recompense is with my God...
I will make you a light to the nations,
that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth."
- Is 49:3-4,6 (NAB)
When JTB's story finally comes in the Gospels, and people were starting to talk about him being the promised saviour, he made it clear that he himself is not the Messiah, that instead he was just "a voice of one crying in the wilderness" (Lk 3:4, RSV-CE2). And when he eventually saw Jesus, he did not react out of worry and jealousy, "Darn! Now my disciples will leave me". In fact, he stood and welcomed, "Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world" (Jn 1:29). JTB had always been very focused on his mission in life - to being people to God, and to point the way to Jesus.
The celebration of the Solemnity is inserted wisely this week to break the flow. But, I don't think it is for the sake of highlighting JTB's birth and mission. The occasion should help us look ahead and realise that we're six months away from the real big news: the birth of Jesus. It provides a good opportunity to to take stock of the distance - or the lack thereof - we have come since the last Christmas.
Have we been the "voice" of/for God, sharing and proclaiming His love for us all? We don't have to stand in the streets to preach. Never mind if we don't know Scriptures well. Never mind if we don't know our traditions at the tip of our fingers. Have we made the little effort to affirm and praise God for the little good we do in our lives? Whenever we do something nice for someone, and they thank us, do we simply accept, or do we make the effort to go a little more, and affirm that it is God working through us?
Isaiah's prophecy surely is a message for us too. God was to use us, His servants, to show His glory. He wants to use us as light for all the nations. We are called to be JTB's in our own little worlds - to show the way to God. Have we responded? All we need to do is try hard - I mean honestly, try hard. And none of our efforts will be wasted.
That has been something I've had to grapple with all my years in ministry, this working in vain. But God has been kind to remind me that "though I thought I had toiled in vain, and for nothing, uselessly, spent my strength," my reward is God. And I cannot testify strongly enough that my relationship with Him has soared each time I've related my disappointments to His; I've gotten closer to Him each time I shared my betrayals with His. It has given me strength to keep going, regardless of my own feelings.
"You shall have no inheritance in their land, neither shall you have any portion among them; I am your portion and inheritance" (Nm 18:20). Indeed, our reward will be God Himself. I can't think of a better prize.
Try. Start today. And claim your reward.
- Updated 13 Jul 2007
"You are my servant, he said to me,
Israel, through whom I show my glory...
Though I thought I had toiled in vain,
and for nothing, uselessly, spent my strength,
yet my reward is with the LORD,
my recompense is with my God...
I will make you a light to the nations,
that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth."
- Is 49:3-4,6 (NAB)
When JTB's story finally comes in the Gospels, and people were starting to talk about him being the promised saviour, he made it clear that he himself is not the Messiah, that instead he was just "a voice of one crying in the wilderness" (Lk 3:4, RSV-CE2). And when he eventually saw Jesus, he did not react out of worry and jealousy, "Darn! Now my disciples will leave me". In fact, he stood and welcomed, "Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world" (Jn 1:29). JTB had always been very focused on his mission in life - to being people to God, and to point the way to Jesus.
The celebration of the Solemnity is inserted wisely this week to break the flow. But, I don't think it is for the sake of highlighting JTB's birth and mission. The occasion should help us look ahead and realise that we're six months away from the real big news: the birth of Jesus. It provides a good opportunity to to take stock of the distance - or the lack thereof - we have come since the last Christmas.
Have we been the "voice" of/for God, sharing and proclaiming His love for us all? We don't have to stand in the streets to preach. Never mind if we don't know Scriptures well. Never mind if we don't know our traditions at the tip of our fingers. Have we made the little effort to affirm and praise God for the little good we do in our lives? Whenever we do something nice for someone, and they thank us, do we simply accept, or do we make the effort to go a little more, and affirm that it is God working through us?
Isaiah's prophecy surely is a message for us too. God was to use us, His servants, to show His glory. He wants to use us as light for all the nations. We are called to be JTB's in our own little worlds - to show the way to God. Have we responded? All we need to do is try hard - I mean honestly, try hard. And none of our efforts will be wasted.
That has been something I've had to grapple with all my years in ministry, this working in vain. But God has been kind to remind me that "though I thought I had toiled in vain, and for nothing, uselessly, spent my strength," my reward is God. And I cannot testify strongly enough that my relationship with Him has soared each time I've related my disappointments to His; I've gotten closer to Him each time I shared my betrayals with His. It has given me strength to keep going, regardless of my own feelings.
"You shall have no inheritance in their land, neither shall you have any portion among them; I am your portion and inheritance" (Nm 18:20). Indeed, our reward will be God Himself. I can't think of a better prize.
Try. Start today. And claim your reward.
- Updated 13 Jul 2007
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